Skip to main content
Log in

Zooplankton boom and ice amphipod bust below melting sea ice in the Amundsen Gulf, Arctic Canada

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Early summer in the Arctic with extensive ice melt and break-up represents a dramatic change for sympagic–pelagic fauna below seasonal sea ice. As part of the International Polar Year-Circumpolar Flaw Lead system study (IPY-CFL), this investigation quantified zooplankton in the meltwater layer below landfast ice and remaining ice fauna below melting ice during June (2008) in Franklin Bay and Darnley Bay, Amundsen Gulf, Canada. The ice was in a state of advanced melt, with fully developed melt ponds. Intense melting resulted in a 0.3- to 0.5-m-thick meltwater layer below the ice, with a strong halocline to the Arctic water below. Zooplankton under the ice, in and below the meltwater layer, was sampled by SCUBA divers. Dense concentrations (max. 1,400 ind. m−3) of Calanus glacialis were associated with the meltwater layer, with dominant copepodid stages CIV and CV and high abundance of nauplii. Less abundant species included Pseudocalanus spp., Oithona similis and C. hyperboreus. The copepods were likely feeding on phytoplankton (0.5–2.3 mg Chl-a m−3) in the meltwater layer. Ice amphipods were present at low abundance (<10 ind. m−2) and wet biomass (<0.2 g m−2). Onisimus glacialis and Apherusa glacialis made up 64 and 51% of the total ice faunal abundance in Darnley Bay and Franklin Bay, respectively. During early summer, the autochthonous ice fauna becomes gradually replaced by allochthonous zooplankton, with an abundance boom near the meltwater layer. The ice amphipod bust occurs during late stages of melting and break-up, when their sympagic habitat is diminished then lost.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aarset AV, Aunaas T (1990a) Influence of environmental salinity on oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion of the Arctic under-ice amphipod Onisimus glacialis. Mar Biol 107:9–15

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aarset AV, Aunaas T (1990b) Effects of osmotic stress on oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion of the Arctic sympagic amphipod Gammarus wilkitzkii. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 58:217–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arndt CE, Beuchel F (2006) Life cycle and population dynamics of the Arctic sympagic amphipods Onisimus nanseni SARS and O. glacialis SARS (Gammaridea: Lysianassidae). Polar Biol 29:239–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barber DG, Asplin M, Gratton Y, Lukovich J, Galley R, Raddatz R, Leitch D (2010) The International Polar Year (IPY) Circumpolar Flaw Lead (CFL) System Study: Introduction and physical system. Atmos Ocean 48:225–243. doi:10.3137/OC317.2010

    Google Scholar 

  • Beuchel F, Lønne OJ (2002) Population dynamics of the sympagic amphipods Gammarus wilkitzkii and Apherusa glacialis in sea ice north of Svalbard. Polar Biol 25:241–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouchard C, Fortier L (2011) Circum-arctic comparison of the hatching season of polar cod Boreogadus saida: a test of the freshwater winter refuge hypothesis. Prog Oceanogr doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2011.02.008

  • Bradstreet MSW, Cross WE (1982) Trophic relationships at high-arctic ice edges. Arctic 35:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown TA, Belt S, Philippe B, Mundy CJ, Massé G, Poulin M, Gosselin M (this volume) Temporal and vertical variations of three classes of lipid biomarkers during a bottom ice diatom bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea: further evidence for the use of the IP25 biomarker as a proxy for the occurrence of spring Arctic sea ice. Polar Biol. doi:10.1007/s00300-010-0942-5

  • Drolet R, Fortier L, Ponton D, Gilbert M (1991) Production of fish larvae and their prey in subarctic southeastern Hudson Bay. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 77:105–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunton KH, Saupe SM, Golikov AN, Schell DM, Schonberg SV (1989) Trophic relationships and isotopic gradients among arctic and subarctic marine fauna. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 56:89–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehn JK, Mundy CJ, Barber DG, Hop H, Rossnagel A, Stewart J (in press) Impact of horizontal spreading on light propagation in melt pond covered seasonal sea ice in the Canadian Arctic. J Geophys Res. doi:10.1029/2010JC006908

  • Falk-Petersen S, Timofeev S, Pavlov V, Sargent JR (2006) Climate variability and the effect on arctic food chains. The role of Calanus. In: Ørbæk JB, Tombre T, Kallenborn R, Hegseth EN, Falk-Petersen S, Hoel AH (eds) Arctic-Alpine ecosystems and people in a changing environment. Springer, Berlin, pp 147–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Falk-Petersen S, Mayzaud P, Kattner G, Sargent JR (2009) Lipids and life strategy of Arctic Calanus. Mar Biol Res 5:18–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forest A, Galindo V, Darnis G, Pineault S, Lalande C, Tremblay JÉ, Fortier L (2011) Carbon biomass, elemental ratios (C:N) and stable isotopic composition (δ13C, δ15N) of dominant calanoid copepods during the winter-to-summer transition in the Amundsen Gulf (Arctic Ocean). J Plankton Res 33:161–178

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garrison DL, Buck KR (1986) Organism losses during ice melting: a serious bias in sea ice community studies. Polar Biol 6:237–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gradinger RR, Bluhm BA (2004) In-situ observations on the distribution and behavior of amphipods and Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) under the sea ice of the high Arctic Canada Basin. Polar Biol 27:595–603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gradinger R, Ikävalko J (1998) Organism incorporation into newly forming Arctic sea ice in the Greenland Sea. J Plankton Res 20:871–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegseth EN (1992) Sub-ice algal assemblages of the Barents Sea: species composition, chemical composition, and growth rates. Polar Biol 12:485–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holm-Hansen O, Lorenzen CJ, Holmes RW, Strickland JD (1965) Fluorometric determination of chlorophyll. J Cons Int Explor Mer 30:3–15

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hop H, Pavlova O (2008) Distribution and biomass transport of ice amphipods in drifting sea ice around Svalbard. Deep Sea Res II 55:2292–2307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hop H, Poltermann M, Lønne OJ, Falk-Petersen S, Korsnes R, Budgell WP (2000) Ice amphipod distribution relative to ice density and under-ice topography in the northern Barents Sea. Polar Biol 23:357–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwasniewski S, Hop H, Falk-Petersen S, Pedersen G (2003) Distribution of Calanus species in Kongsfjorden, a glacial fjord in Svalbard. J Plankton Res 25:1–20

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Legendre L, Ackley SF, Dieckmann GS, Gulliksen B, Horner R, Hoshiai T, Melnikov IA, Reeburgh WS, Spindler M, Sullivan CW (1992) Ecology of sea ice biota. 2. Global significance. Polar Biol 12:429–444

    Google Scholar 

  • Lønne OJ (1988) A diver-operated electric suction sampler for sympagic (=under-ice) invertebrates. Polar Res 6:135–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lønne OJ, Gulliksen B (1989) Size, age and diet of polar cod, Boreogadus saida (Lepechin 1773), in ice covered waters. Polar Biol 9:187–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lønne OJ, Gulliksen B (1991a) On the distribution of sympagic macro-fauna in the seasonally ice covered Barents Sea. Polar Biol 11:457–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Lønne OJ, Gulliksen B (1991b) Sympagic macro-fauna from multiyear sea-ice near Svalbard. Polar Biol 11:471–477

    Google Scholar 

  • Mundy CJ, Barber DG, Michel C, Marsden RF (2007) Linking ice structure and microscale variability of algal biomass in Arctic first-year sea ice using an in situ photographic technique. Polar Biol 30:1099–1114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy CJ, Gosselin M, Ehn JK, Gratton Y, Rossnagel AL, Barber DG, Martin J, Tremblay J-É, Palmer M, Arrigo K, Darnis G, Fortier L, Else B, Papakyriakou TN (2009) Contribution of under-ice primary production to an ice-edge upwelling phytoplankton bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Geophys Res Lett 36:L17601. doi:10.1029/2009GL038837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy CJ, Gosselin M, Ehn JK, Belzile C, Poulin M, Alou E, Roy S, Hop H, Papakyriakou TN, Barber DG, Stewart J (this volume) Characteristics of two distinct high-light acclimated microbial communities during advanced stages of sea ice melt. Polar Biol (subm.)

  • Palmer MA, Arrigo KR, Mundy CJ, Gosselin M, Ehn JK, Rossnagel A, Barber DG, Martin J, Tremblay J-É (this volume) Spatial and temporal variation of photosynthetic parameters in natural phytoplankton assemblages in the Beaufort Sea, Canadian Arctic. Polar Biol (accepted)

  • Parsons TR, Maita Y, Lali CM (1984) A manual of chemical and biological methods for seawater analysis. Pergamon Press, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Pike D, Welch HE (1990) Spatial and temporal distribution of sub-ice macrofauna in the Barrow Strait area, Northwest Territories. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 47:81–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poltermann M (1998) Abundance, biomass and small-scale distribution of cryopelagic amphipods in the Franz Josef Land area (Arctic). Polar Biol 20:134–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poltermann M (2001) Arctic sea ice as feeding ground for amphipods–food sources and strategies. Polar Biol 24:89–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poltermann M, Hop H, Falk-Petersen S (2000) Life under Arctic sea ice–reproduction strategies of two sympagic (ice-associated) amphipod species, Gammarus wilkitzkii and Apherusa glacialis. Mar Biol 136:913–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Regehr EV, Hunter CM, Caswell H, Amstrup SC, Stirling I (2010) Survival and breeding of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea in relation to sea ice. J Anim Ecol 79:117–127

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schünemann H, Werner I (2005) Seasonal variations in distribution patterns of sympagic meiofauna in Arctic pack ice. Mar Biol 146:1091–1102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott CL, Kwasniewski S, Falk-Petersen S, Sargent JR (2002) Lipids and fatty acids in the copepod Jaschnovia brevis (Jaschnov) and in particulates from Arctic waters. Polar Biol 25:65–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Søreide JE, Hop H, Falk-Petersen S, Gulliksen B, Hansen E (2003) Macrozooplankton communities and environmental variables in the Barents Sea marginal ice zone. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 263:43–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Søreide JE, Hop H, Carroll ML, Falk-Petersen S, Hegseth EN (2006) Seasonal food web structures and sympagic-pelagic coupling in the European Arctic revealed by stable isotopes and a two-source food web model. Prog Oceanogr 71:59–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Søreide JE, Leu E, Berge J, Graeve M, Falk-Petersen S (2010) Timing of blooms, algal food quality and Calanus glacialis reproduction and growth in a changing Arctic. Glob Change Biol 16:3154–3163

    Google Scholar 

  • Stirling I (1997) The importance of polynyas, ice edges, and leads to marine mammals and birds in pack ice to seals and polar bears. J Mar Syst 10:9–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner I (1997) Grazing of Arctic under-ice amphipods on sea-ice algae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 160:93–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner I (2006) Seasonal dynamics of sub-ice fauna below pack ice in the Arctic (Fram Strait). Deep Sea Res I 53:294–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner I (2007) Seasonal dynamics, cryo-pelagic interactions and metabolic rates of Arctic pack-ice and under-ice fauna—a review. Polarforschung 75:1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner I, Auel H, Garrity C, Hagen W (1999) Pelagic occurrence of the sympagic amphipod Gammarus wilkitzkii in ice-free waters of the Greenland Sea–dead end or part of life-cycle? Polar Biol 22:56–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner I, Auel H, Friedrich C (2002) Carnivorous feeding and respiration of the Arctic under-ice amphipod Gammarus wilkitzkii. Polar Biol 25:523–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weslawski JM, Legezynska J (1998) Glaciers caused zooplankton mortality? J Plankton Res 20:1233–1240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wold A, Darnis G, Søreide JE, Leu E, Philippe B, Fortier L, Poulin M, Kattner G, Graeve M, Falk-Petersen S (this volume) Life strategy and diet of Calanus glacialis during the winter-spring transition in Amundsen Gulf, southeast Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean). Polar Biol (subm.)

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was part of the International Polar Year-Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study (IPY-CFL 2008). Funding for IPY-CFL was provided by the Canadian IPY Federal Program Office, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Canada Research Chair (CRC) programmes through grants to D. G. B. Postdoctoral fellowship support was provided to C. J. M. from the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT). The participation of H. H. in the CFL project was jointly facilitated by Arctos and ArcticNet, within the IPY-project PanAME. Thanks to J. Stewart, Head of the DFO dive program, for organization and field support with regard to the SCUBA diving, and also to J. DeLaronde and J. K. Ehn for assistance on the ice. We thank the officers and crew of the CCGS Amundsen for logistical support. The taxonomic work was conducted under a contract with the Institute of Oceanology, Sopot, Poland, and we thank J. Legezynska for providing the results in a timely manner. Thanks to A. Wold and M. Daase, Norwegian Polar Institute, for help with tables and figures. We finally thank J. M. Weslawski, W. Walkusz and one anonymous referee for constructive suggestions to improve this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haakon Hop.

Additional information

This article belongs to the special issue “Circumpolar Flaw Lead Study (CFL)”, coordinated by J. Deming and L. Fortier.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hop, H., Mundy, C.J., Gosselin, M. et al. Zooplankton boom and ice amphipod bust below melting sea ice in the Amundsen Gulf, Arctic Canada. Polar Biol 34, 1947–1958 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-011-0991-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-011-0991-4

Keywords

Navigation